Lakers Submit Request To Remove Deng’s Salary From Cap
The Lakers have submitted a request to the NBA in an attempt to remove Luol Deng‘s remaining cap hits from their team salary for the next two seasons, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).
Deng agreed to a buyout with the Lakers before the start of the 2018/19 season. The team stretched his remaining salary across multiple seasons at that point and is still on the hook for cap charges worth $5MM apiece in 2020/21 and ’21/22.
If a player suffers a career-ending injury or illness, the NBA will typically permit his team to remove his remaining salary from its cap after he has been waived, though the player still receives that salary. Chris Bosh, Nikola Pekovic, Mirza Teletovic, Omer Asik, and Timofey Mozgov are some of the players whose cap hits have been removed from teams’ books in recent years due to career-ending ailments.
It’s not at all certain that the Lakers will receive any cap relief for Deng, however. Following his buyout in 2018, the veteran forward signed with Minnesota and played 22 games for the Timberwolves during the ’18/19 season before retiring last fall. That doesn’t necessarily mean that Deng didn’t suffer an injury during his Lakers stint that eventually ended his career, but it will be difficult to prove that, notes ESPN’s Bobby Marks (via Twitter).
If the Lakers’ request is granted, it would give the franchise some added flexibility during the next two offseasons for roster moves. An extra $5MM of wiggle room could make it more viable for the team to retain players like Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Rajon Rondo while still using its mid-level exception, as Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report points out (via Twitter).
Central Notes: Oladipo, Pacers, Bulls, Pistons
Pacers guard Victor Oladipo is a candidate to be traded this offseason, but ESPN’s Tim Bontemps is somewhat skeptical that a deal will get done before the 2020/21 season begins. Appearing on Brian Windhorst’s Hoop Collective podcast on Monday, Bontemps suggested that Oladipo’s lengthy recovery from a leg injury and his up-and-down play upon returning may reduce his value on the trade market.
“From talking to people around the league, I don’t think his value is nearly as high as his name brand would suggest at the moment,” Bontemps said (hat tip to RealGM). “And I think it’s more likely that the Pacers go into the season and either hope he plays really well and they do great and he decides to stay, or that he plays better and then they maybe trade him later, when his value goes up some.”
If the Pacers do seriously consider moving Oladipo, they’ll be looking to extract a significant return for a player who has made two All-Star teams since arriving in Indiana. But if Bontemps is right and Oladipo’s health, diminished 2019/20 production, and contract situation (he’ll be a free agent in 2021) result in underwhelming offers, the team will likely be reluctant to pull the trigger.
Here’s more from around the Central:
- K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago identifies six players he believes would make good mid-level exception targets for the Bulls this fall. Johnson’s list is fairly heavy on wings, including Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Derrick Jones, and Jae Crowder.
- In a pair of articles for Pistons.com, Keith Langlois profiles Florida State forward Patrick Williams as a potential lottery target for the Pistons and examines the decisions Detroit will have to make on its own players before pursuing outside free agents.
- In case you missed it, we relayed a series of Central notes on Monday night and then published a poll this morning on the future of Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Poll: Giannis Antetokounmpo’s Future
Although he won’t be among this year’s pool of NBA free agents, Giannis Antetokounmpo may be the player whose next move is monitored closest this offseason.
Entering the final year of his contract with the Bucks, Antetokounmpo will be eligible for a five-year, super-max extension that would make him one of the NBA’s highest-paid players for years to come. However, after Milwaukee’s disappointing playoff showings during the last two seasons, there’s no guarantee that Giannis will sign that extension as soon as he’s eligible to do so.
Despite those postseason exits, Antetokunmpo has said all the right things about his desire to remain in Milwaukee long-term. And while we’ve heard those kind of comments before from star players who eventually leave their teams, Giannis’ stance seems genuine.
Milwaukee is the only home he has known since arriving in America, the Bucks are a talented team that has led the NBA in wins over the last two years, and Antetokounmpo doesn’t sound like he’s simply reading from a generic script when he talks about wanting to break through and win a title with the Bucks.
Still, until Antetokounmpo officially puts pen to paper on a new contract, anything can happen. Specifically, there are four scenarios that could play out for Giannis and the Bucks over the next year.
- Antetokounmpo signs a five-year, super-max extension with the Bucks this offseason. It would go into effect in 2021/22 and would start at 35% of the cap for that year.
- Antetokounmpo forgoes an extension this offseason, but remains with the Bucks for another year, then signs a new deal with the team during the 2021 offseason. He could still sign the five-year super-max in ’21. Or he could opt for a shorter-term deal, especially if the league’s updated salary cap projections suggest that approach might be more financially advantageous in the long run.
- Antetokounmpo doesn’t sign an extension this offseason, then joins a new team when he reaches free agency in 2021 — either by signing outright or via sign-and-trade. His max contract would be for four years, starting at 30% of the cap.
- Antetokounmpo doesn’t sign an extension this offseason and is traded before the 2021 deadline.
The fourth option has always seemed like the least probable outcome to me. As Tim Bontemps of ESPN reiterated this week, the Bucks are opposed to the idea of trading Antetokounmpo before his contract expires, preferring to make another run at a title with him in 2021. I imagine the team would only seriously consider a trade if Antetokounmpo asks for one, and he has stated he has no plans to do so.
The other three options are all more realistic possibilities, though I don’t have a feel yet for which outcome is likeliest. The Bucks will be able to put their super-max offer on the table for Antetokounmpo once the 2020/21 league year begins, which figures to happen in late November or early December. We should get a better idea by that point whether he’ll accept that offer this offseason.
If he doesn’t, the Bucks don’t need to panic. They’ll be able to put that same super-max offer back in play during the 2021 offseason and it’s worth more years and more money than Antetokoumpo can get anywhere else. Plus, if the Bucks can make the roster upgrades necessary to make a run to the NBA Finals in ’21, that would go a long way toward selling Giannis on a long-term future in Milwaukee.
We want to know what you think. Which outcome is the most likely for Antetokounmpo and the Bucks? Do you envision him remaining in Milwaukee for years to come, or are his days as a Buck numbered?
Vote in our poll, then head to the comment section below to share your two cents!
What will Giannis Antetokounmpo do?
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Join a new team as a free agent in 2021 40% (920)
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Sign an extension with the Bucks this offseason 27% (620)
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Re-sign with the Bucks as a free agent in 2021 22% (502)
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Be traded before reaching free agency 12% (285)
Total votes: 2,327
Trade Rumors app users, click here to vote.
Nets, Pelicans Discussed Jrue Holiday At Trade Deadline
The Nets and Pelicans spoke in February about the possibility about a Jrue Holiday trade, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst said today on his Hoop Collective podcast (hat tip to NetsDaily).
“I think it’s been reported,” Windhorst said of those talks. “But if it hasn’t been reported, I found out somewhere – I don’t think it was from an executive, maybe it was – that there was some discussion between the Nets and Pelicans in February.”
Brooklyn and New Orleans obviously didn’t reach a deal at last season’s trade deadline, but with Holiday on a potential expiring contract in 2020/21 (he has a player option for ’21/22), it’s possible the Pelicans will revisit the idea of a trade during the coming offseason.
“I’m not 100% convinced that the Pelicans are going to move him,” Windhorst said. “I think it’s an option for them. I think it also depends on the coach that they hire and the way that coach wants to play. But they did kick it around (last season).”
Veteran guards Holiday and J.J. Redick are both on track to reach free agency in 2021. The Pelicans could keep their roster relatively intact this fall, retaining those vets and counting on further development from the likes of Zion Williamson, Brandon Ingram, and Lonzo Ball to make them a playoff team next season. But if New Orleans decides to shop its veterans in search of pieces whose timelines match up better with the team’s young core, the Nets could be a logical trade partner.
Brooklyn has the pieces necessary to make a run at a third star to complement Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, especially if the team is willing to make Caris LeVert available. With few impact players viewed as obvious trade candidates in the short term, Holiday could immediately become the most intriguing option available if the Pelicans put him on the trade block.
Andre Ingram Becomes President Of NBAGL Players’ Union
NBA G League veteran Andre Ingram has been named the president of the Basketball Players Union, the newly-formed union for NBAGL players, sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).
According to Charania, guard David Stockton has been named the vice president of the union, while top prospect Isaiah Todd will be the secretary-treasurer. Charania classifies the group as an “interim” executive committee — it’s not clear whether that means those players could be replaced in the near future or whether more positions will be added.
As we detailed in July, the Basketball Players Union (BPU) will represent players on all NBA G League teams, including the Select Team that will be launched in 2020/21. Players on two-way contracts or on NBAGL assignments from NBA rosters will continue to be repped by the National Basketball Players Association.
The BPU will have its work cut out for it in its first year, given the uncertain outlook for the G League’s 2020/21 season amidst the coronavirus pandemic.
[RELATED: Uncertainty Surrounds NBA G League’s 2020/21 Season]
Ingram’s G League résumé makes him an ideal fit as the BPU’s first president. The 34-year-old shooting guard is the all-time leader in NBAGL games played (449), having been part of the league since the 2007/08 season. Ingram has played in just six NBA games during that time, racking up 19 points during a memorable debut for the Lakers in April 2018.
Stockton, the son of Hall-of-Famer John Stockton, is also a G League veteran, having appeared in 169 games for the Reno Bighorns and South Bay Lakers since 2014. Todd, meanwhile, is an NBAGL rookie — the five-star recruit will be part of the new Select Team, the G League Ignite, next season.
And-Ones: NBA Revenue, Burks, NCAA, Africa
The NBA’s summer restart permitted the league to recoup about $1.5 billion in revenue that would have otherwise been lost, sources tell John Lombardo of SportsBusiness Daily. As Lombardo explains, much of that $1.5 billion was tied to national and local television deals, as well as league sponsorships.
Of course, the inability to fully complete the regular season schedule and to have fans in arenas for any summer games will end up costing the NBA a significant chunk of revenue, and the coronavirus pandemic will continue to impact the league’s financial outlook going forward. Still, that financial outlook would have been significantly grimmer if the NBA hadn’t been able to successfully pull off the bubble experiment at Walt Disney World this summer.
“Without a doubt, it was worth it,” one team executive said of the reported $180MM the NBA spent to operate the Disney bubble, per Lombardo.
Here are more odds and ends from around the basketball world:
- As he prepares to re-enter free agency, guard Alec Burks has signed with Octagon Sports for representation, the agency announced today (via Twitter). Burks signed for the veteran’s minimum last summer, but had a solid season with the Warriors and Sixers, averaging 15.0 PPG, 4.3 RPG, and 2.9 APG on .418/.385/.887 shooting in 66 games (26.6 MPG).
- The NCAA’s Division I Council announced last week that winter sport athletes who compete during the 2020/21 season will receive an additional year of eligibility due to the coronavirus pandemic. While the ruling may affect future NBA draft classes, its impact should be relatively minimal, since most top prospects leave school after a year or two anyway.
- In an interesting piece for ESPN.com, Matthew Kirwin of Sports Africa Network explores how Africa’s relationship with U.S. basketball and the NBA has evolved over the last few decades.
Hoops Rumors Glossary: Hard Cap
The NBA’s salary cap is a “soft” cap, which is why every single club’s team salary comfortably surpassed $109,141,000 at some point during the 2019/20 season. Once a team uses up all of its cap room, it can use a series of exceptions, including the mid-level, bi-annual, and various forms of Bird rights, to exceed the cap.
Since the NBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement doesn’t feature a “hard” cap by default, teams can construct rosters that not only exceed the cap but also blow past the luxury tax line ($132,627,000 in ’19/20). While it would be nearly impossible in practical terms, there’s technically no rule restricting a club from having a team salary worth double or triple the salary cap.
However, there are certain scenarios in which a team can be hard-capped. Those scenarios are as follows:
- The team uses its bi-annual exception to sign a player.
- The team uses more than the taxpayer portion of the mid-level exception to sign a player (or multiple players).
- Note: In 2019/20, the taxpayer MLE was worth $5,718,000, compared to $9,258,000 for the full non-taxpayer MLE.
- The team acquires a player via sign-and-trade.
A team making any of those three roster moves must ensure that its team salary is below the “tax apron” when it finalizes the transaction and stays below the apron for the rest of the league year. The tax apron was set $6MM above the luxury tax line in 2017/18 (the first year of the current Collective Bargaining Agreement) and creeps up a little higher each season as long as the cap keeps increasing.
For the 2019/20 league year, the tax apron – and the hard cap for certain clubs – was set at $138,928,000. Assuming the cap doesn’t change by much for the 2020/21, the apron figures to remain relatively unchanged for next season.
Last offseason, before the Warriors acquired D’Angelo Russell in a sign-and-trade deal, they had to dump Andre Iguodala‘s $17MM+ salary in a trade and waive Shaun Livingston‘s partially guaranteed contract to ensure their team salary was below the apron upon acquiring Russell.
Golden State then had to remain below the apron for the rest of the season, which was why the team spent much of the year carrying fewer than 15 players on standard contracts — even an extra minimum-salary player would’ve compromised the Warriors’ ability to stay below the hard cap. Golden State made some trades at the deadline that created some breathing room below the apron and allowed the club to fill its 15-man roster.
Many other teams technically faced hard caps during the 2020/21 season, but the Warriors were the team most affected by the restrictions imposed upon them. Most of the other teams with hard caps never got close to the $138,928,000 apron.
Once the 2020/21 league year officially gets underway, the Warriors will no longer be subject to the hard cap. And as long as they don’t use their bi-annual exception, acquire a player via sign-and-trade, or use more than the taxpayer portion of the mid-level, they won’t face a hard cap next season. So even though the Dubs already have a projected $142MM+ in guaranteed money on the books for ’20/21, they’ll still be able to make full use of their $17MM+ trade exception and $5.72MM taxpayer MLE if they so choose.
Finally, it’s worth noting that even though the Warriors will likely start the 2020/21 league year above the apron, that doesn’t mean they can’t become hard-capped at some point later in ’20/21. For example, if Golden State kicked off the offseason by trading Andrew Wiggins‘ $29.5MM contract without taking back any salary in return, then subsequently used its full, non-taxpayer mid-level exception, the team would once again be prohibited from surpassing the apron for the rest of the league year.
In other words, the hard cap applies from the moment a team completes one of the three transactions listed above, but isn’t applied retroactively.
Note: This is a Hoops Rumors Glossary entry. Our glossary posts will explain specific rules relating to trades, free agency, or other aspects of the NBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement. Larry Coon’s Salary Cap FAQ and the Basketball Insiders salary pages were used in the creation of this post.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Fertitta Thinks Morey May Eventually Join East Coast Team
When word broke on Thursday that Daryl Morey was stepping down from his position as the Rockets’ general manager, an ESPN report suggested that Morey seems unlikely to seek a new NBA job immediately. According to that report, the veteran executive prefers to spend some time with his family and explore what else might interest him professionally.
However, that doesn’t mean that Morey won’t be back in an NBA front office at some point. In his look back at Morey’s tenure in Houston, Zach Lowe of ESPN cited a source who said the 48-year-old does want another NBA job. And Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta provided a clue this week about where Morey might be headed if and when he does pursue a new position, as Tim MacMahon of ESPN writes.
“He had always said, ‘I’m not going to be here forever,’ and, ‘At some point, I might want to go back to the East Coast,'” Fertitta said. “… If he ends up back in the league, I think that he’ll probably end up in the East Coast. That’s where he always told me he wanted to end up, so I think that he’ll tell me anything (if I ask him for advice), because he knows that he won’t have to face me until the Finals.”
Having previously hired a Morey lieutenant (Sam Hinkie) to run their front office, the Sixers reportedly made a run at Morey himself in 2018 following Bryan Colangelo‘s sudden exit. As such, Philadelphia would be a team to watch if Morey seeks a job on the East Coast. For now though, the 76ers appear content with letting Elton Brand run the show, as they hire veteran executives to fill out Brand’s basketball operations staff.
Of course, Morey’s potential options will hinge on part on the timeline for his return to the NBA. If he doesn’t seek a new job for two or three years, the landscape of the Eastern Conference could look a whole lot different than it does now, creating new opportunities for the longtime Rockets executive.
Pacific Notes: Ball, Warriors, Suns, Lewis, Lakers
Possible No. 1 pick LaMelo Ball confirmed this week in an appearance on ESPN’s Jalen & Jacoby (video link) that the Warriors are one of the teams he has met with so far.
Anthony Slater of The Athletic notes (via Twitter) that the Warriors’ interview with Ball actually happened over four months ago, well before the team secured the No. 2 pick. Still, Golden State is one of just two clubs known to have spoken to Ball, along with New York.
Here’s more from around the Pacific:
- Addressing the possibility of the Timberwolves trading the No. 1 pick, Brian Witt of NBC Bay Area observes that such a move would have a major impact on the Warriors. Besides holding the No. 2 pick this year, Golden State controls Minnesota’s top-three protected pick for 2021, so a win-now move by the Wolves would affect where that pick lands.
- The Suns had a second Zoom interview this week with former Alabama point guard Kira Lewis, reports Ian Begley of SNY.tv (Twitter link). Lewis is ranked No. 25 on ESPN’s big board, but it’s worth noting that GM James Jones hasn’t been shy about “reaching” for prospects — last year, he selected Cameron Johnson, a projected late first-rounder, at No. 11.
- Some executives around the league believe that the Lakers make sense as a trade partner for the Thunder in a Chris Paul deal, writes Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report. While LeBron James and Paul likely wouldn’t mind teaming up, it would be tricky for the Lakers to pull off a deal — they’d have to package at least six players in order to match Paul’s salary, and there would be other roadblocks to consider, as Dan Feldman of NBC Sports writes.
Sixers Expected To Add Peter Dinwiddie, Prosper Karangwa To Front Office
4:42pm: Dinwiddie will become the Sixers’ executive vice president of basketball operations, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).
1:40pm: Having vowed to make changes to their front office this offseason, the Sixers are expected to bring in Pacers executive Peter Dinwiddie and Magic executive Prosper Karangwa to join GM Elton Brand‘s group, reports Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Dinwiddie has been with the Pacers for nearly a decade and a half, getting his start in ticket sales before eventually transitioning to a front office role, as Scott Agness detailed in a story for The Athletic last year. He received a promotion in 2017 from VP of basketball operations to senior VP of basketball ops, and has played a key role in Indiana’s salary cap management.
Karangwa, meanwhile, joined the Magic as a scout in 2012 after spending several years playing professionally overseas. He was promoted through the department in recent years and was named Orlando’s director of scouting in 2019.
It’s not clear yet what titles Dinwiddie and Karangwa will have in the Sixers’ front office, but reports since August have indicated the team was looking at changing its front office personnel and structure.
The expectation is that Brand will retain his GM role – or receive a promotion and a new title, per Pompey – and be the primary decision-maker going forward, but there are a number of changes happening around him. Executive VP of basketball operations Alex Rucker isn’t expected to return and – as we wrote on Thursday – VP of strategy Sergi Olivia has also left the organization.